New York tables: Welcoming out-of-towners

Atera

Chef Matthew Lightner “wants to stimulate, to educate, and to entertain,” wrote New York Magazine reviewer Adam Platt, who compared him to the city’s leading molecular gastronomist, Wylie Dufresne. The buzz about this Tribeca hot spot remains enthusiastic.

Maison Kayser USA

A fast-casual café/bakery concept overseen by fourth-generation French baker and first-generation restaurateur Eric Kayser, this first U.S. outlet is 4,000 square feet with 104 seats and is located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood, where the $2.75 baguettes and an array of pastries have kept the place full of customers.

Mission Chinese Food

This New York outlet of the San Francisco restaurant by the same name has built a following with its creative takes on Chinese food, such as pastrami Kung Pao, but also because of the restaurant’s commitment to contribute to charity. Mission Chinese Food donates 75 cents to a local food bank for every large plate ordered. Eater.com wrote, “Mission Chinese Food is one of the most buzzed-about restaurants of the year.”

NoMad

Union Square Hospitality Group alumni Daniel Humm and Will Guidara of Michelin-three-star-rated Eleven Madison Park opened this critically acclaimed and popular new restaurant. Suckling pig with dried plums, onion and wild greens is an example of their offerings, although the most buzzed-about dish is the $79 chicken for two.

POK POK Ny

Chef/owner Andy Ricker was named best chef in the Northwest by the James Beard Foundation in 2011. He built his reputation at POK POK in Portland, Ore., and is one of the few chefs to translate that success to New York. Charcoal roasted hen with lemon grass, garlic, pepper and tamarind sauce is the restaurant’s signature dish.

New Yorkers typically don’t greet out-of-town restaurateurs with open arms, but Mission Chinese, Pok Pok and Maison Kayser are exceptions to the rule, while Atera and NoMad show that they still have a taste for luxury.